1) Paleo is not about weight loss. Paleo is about health

2) We have different genes, and different macro nutrients effect us differently. Start very restrictive, and once you get your body under control, add things back slowly

3) Calories DO matter. Just not as much as we thought. Paleo is not magic, you cannot consume 7000 calories a day and loose/ maintain weight. HOWEVER, macronutrient ratio plays a big part in HOW our bodies use the calories we consume

4) Trust your body, it will tell you what to eat when (including adding Carbs if necessary)

5) Do NOT Trust your body in the first three weeks, you have to detox (and yes it is detox)

• Regarding low-carb: it may make you feel wonderful and yield several benefits, aid weight loss, healing, etc - it may also cause you problems in the long term. Treat it as a tool, not a mandate of being paleo.

• Healing ALWAYS comes first. You will see results when your body is happy, nurtured, and repleted.

• "I read I'm supposed to 'X' - but its not working": generally speaking, your body's feedback is THE most valuable thing you have, much more applicable than anything you read. Your body is unique, and if you've given a strategy a genuine try (honestly) and believe it to be detrimental or even non-beneficial to your specific situation: don't feel obligated to continue it. Your connection with your body, the quality of your biofeedback, and trust in said feedback will all increase more and more as you delve deeper into this way of life.

• Don't be afraid to experiment - experimentation is part of learning to connect with the feedback that your body will give you regarding what it likes, doesn't like, and needs. If you eat something that makes you feel like crap, make a mental note (or keep a diary of what you learn even, if it helps you) and move on.

• Related to that last one: don't beat yourself up if you eat off-plan. Evaluate your choices and fully accept them; harboring guilt, beating yourself up, and trying to bargin after the fact can be more detrimental than the act itself. Treat it as a learning experience, as motivation to eat fully paleo and recover, or at least make peace with the fact and continue on your path. Perpetual cognitive dissonance over not being 100% all the time will seriously hinder any process you may be making.

1. Be patient, this is going to take some time and effort on your part. There is no one size fits all. Nothing worth having comes easy.
2. Don't be scared of potatoes. Carbs are not the devil. Thinking entirely in terms of macronutrients is problematic.
3. The goal is to eat adequate fat, not to eat as much fat as you can.
4. Keep it simple, real food is delicious; enjoy it as close to natural as possible.
5. Comply with the major things, but when it comes to nuance think for yourself and make your own decisions. If you get stuck reference rule number 1. No one knows everything about anything.

1. Remove all grains: absolutely remove all wheat, other things such as white rice may be ok, but things related to wheat including barley, rye, should be absolutely avoided. Corn may be tolerated by some occasionally, but best left out, especially if you're in the USA as 90%+ of it is GMO. Grains cause leaky gut which leads to autoimmune disease. White rice is only ok if you don't have issues with insulin (diabetes, obesity, etc.) because the antinutrients and toxins have been polished off.

2. Remove all legumes, especially soy. Beans in general cause leaky gut, and therefore lead to autoimmune diseases, and are poor sources of protein and contain trypsin inhibitors which prevent protein absorption. Additionally, soy is also a goitrogen and a source of xeno estrogens; GMO soy is even worse since it has far more pesticides and makes its own internal toxins. They also contain a lot of indigestible sugars that cause problems with gut flora. Peanuts are legumes, not nuts, avoid them also.

3. Remove dairy unless you tolerate it well, even then, stick to fermented dairy, and ferment it yourself. If possible get raw milk.

4. Some people have issues to nightshades, not everyone, so test this by removing all potatoes (not yams/sweet potatos), tomatoes, eggplants for 30 days and reintroduce them slowly - if there's no reaction, you're good. Some people can tolerate white potatoes without skins.

5. Don't fear saturated fats. Unlike PUFAs, they don't go rancid as easily, they are a safe source of non-insulin raising calories. They have high smoking points and can be safely used for cooking. Palm and Coconut oil are really good stuff.

6. Avoid all industrial oils (soy, corn, "vegetable", safflower, etc.) these are better suited for running diesel engines than being consumed - they are refined in the same way and are rancid due to the high temperatures of processing, but this is hidden from us by filtering, deodorizing and bleaching, and are to be considered trans fats. This is one of the major reasons to avoid restaurant food, especially fast food.

7. Avoid foods in boxes/bags that have ingredients you don't recognize. These industrial food like products are manufactured, and their manufacturers are experts at playing word games, such as providing multiple harmless sounding sources of sugar, artificial flavoring, and so called "natural" flavoring that are actually damaging to us - including excitotoxins such as sources of MSG and providing them under multiple confusing names (the list is something like 50-60 items long.) Some "natural" flavorings come from nasty manufacturing processes, others are disgusting such as natural raspberry flavoring that actually comes from the anal glands of beavers.

   There's a whole industry off the NJ Turnpike dedicated to creating flavors. That burger you had at a fastfood joint may have had this stuff added to it, and without it would have tasted like cardboard.

   Recently they started adding wood pulp as fillers, we can't digest this stuff and it may have detrimental effects on gut flora.

   Ignore all health claims such as "heart healthy" on boxes, and anything other than the ingredient list. The nutritional info boxes are usually gamed by playing with the portion size. Things that say "0 grams trans fats" usually have upto 0.5g trans fats per serving, and if you an insanely small portion size, you're getting a lot of heart/artery damaging trans fats. Food manufacturers spend more money on advertising, designing the box (and focus groups), smells and flavors, than they do on the ingredients. Any food like product advertised on TV, radio, and mainstream newspapers/magazines should be avoided like the plague.

8. Anything you wouldn't eat should not be put on your skin - personal care products are made with the same nasty industrial oils, all sorts of toxins. Skin can absorb almost everything is put on it. If you need moisturizer, try using coconut oil. If you need toothpaste (remember, fluoride is a potent neurotoxin), or deodorant, mix baking soda with coconut oil and use that.

9. Filter your water with a good RO filter (or at least something capable of removing not only heavy metals, but also fluoride and chlorine. Shower filters to get rid of the chlorine is a good idea as showers release chlorine gas which can damage our lungs. There are papers from the early 1980's that implicate chlorine with heart disease.

10. Modern food plants are grown in depleted soils, are ripened artificially after being picked with things like ethylene gas, so they're nutrient poor. CAFO fed animals, even ones labeled organic are deprived of nutrients. Farmed fish, as well as CAFO fed animals are fed GMO soy/corn, antibiotics, and hormones, deprived of sleep - so they're high in pesticides, antibiotics, cortisol, bad hormones, etc. Some are fed the excrement of other animals, old unsold candy (with the wrappers) and so on. The goal is to fatten them up as quickly as possible.

11. Eating pastured/grass fed animals, wild caught fish, pastured eggs, is a better way to go. Don't overcook them - some nutrients such as taurine are destroyed by heat. Prefer rare over well done.

12. Get your nutrients from food, but do supplement with Magnesium, Potassium, Zinc, Iodine, Vitamin K, D3, etc.

13. Consume as much seafood as land food, you'll want your n3:n6 ratios to be as close to 1:1 as possible. Eat chicken and other poultry less frequently as beef, bison, lamb, fish, seafood.

14. Consume fermented foods, but ferment them yourself. Commercial yogurts are only lightly fermented, and have far less probiotics than they should. The flavored ones are loaded with sugar, and possibly fillers, artificial colors/flavors, or fake unnatural "natural" flavors. Kefir, yogurt, kraut, kombucha, pickles are very easy to make at home, and far more beneficial if you make them yourself.

15. Avoid chronic cardio (running for hours on end, jogging, etc.), walking is fine. Favor high intensity exercises, sprinting or resistance/weight lifting exercises. Constant rate exercise can damage heart tissues, and depletes stem cells, shortening our lives. Use diet to lose fat, not exercise. Use exercise to increase muscle strength and health.

16. Avoid plastics. Water bottles, food containers, etc. Some plastics are labeled BPA free, while they may not have BPA, they may have BPS which can be worse than BPA, and they'll almost certainly leech phthalates. Best to avoid them all. Favor stainless steel and glass containers.

17. Invest in good cooking tools. Slow cookers/crockpots are very useful for making meals that take a long time without having to babysit them, they're also useful for making bone broths which are very good for us. Sharp knives, wooden cutting boards, blender/food processor, etc. Learn to cook if you don't know how. It's fine to eat at a trusted restaurant, but you're better off doing it yourself. This shifts the balance of power into your court as you're no longer at the mercy of what restaurants and fast food places are near you.

18. Control stress, get enough sleep in fully dark room (black out curtains, cover LEDs), avoid blue/white light at night, especially from computer/tablet/phones, go easy on the caffeine.

1. Fat is your friend. Eat a lot of it.
2. Don't eat too much protein.
3. Eat carbs according to your activity level.
4. Don't eat Processed Foods, Industrial Seed Oils, Grains, Soy, or Legumes and claim to be on the Paleo diet.
5. Don't complain or ask questions until you've complied with 1 thru 4.

I would also add read something on Paleo before you start Paleo. I've seen questions lately on Paleo and the person is still eating wheat. I think people hear one or two things about the diet from a friend and then jump on the bandwagon without stopping to read much about what it is they just claimed to be doing.

I only have one to offer because I encounter this all the time: Beer is not Paleo.

Just two:

1. Most so-called credible sources that "poke holes" in the paleo diet don't actually know what the paleo diet is so ignore them or read them critically
2. And in the very beginning, when you're most excited about this stuff, try not to evangelize:

I'll add one because this got me in trouble the first month I went strict Paleo:

Make sure you're GETTING ENOUGH SALT in your diet!

Cutting out all processed foods means cutting out pretty much all salt consumption, which means the only way to get it now is to add it to your real foods. I believe this is why I had a rough transition period in going paleo (woke up a few mornings with a rapid heart rate, almost passed out at one point..not fun). But our bodies do need sodium to function! Not saying drench all your food in salt, but DON'T be afraid of it! Great flavor-enhancer too :)

1. You may be excited about Paleo, but chances are people around you won't be. DO NOT TALK ABOUT PALEO. SERIOUSLY.

2. That '1 beer' or a 'dash of milk in your coffee' will hamper your progress.

3. Kerrygold butter will make everything OK.

4. Take monthly progress shots! It may be vain but looking at my own progress shots has been more motivating for me than the disappearance of all my GI problems.

5. Have faith in Paleo and trust your results. Don't freak out at all the articles that say "fat causes cancer!" or whatever. They're a dime a dozen.

"1." Eat fats to replace any missing carbs.

"2." VARY YOUR DIET ALOT, DONT GET INTO RUTS.

High nutrient diets can be unbalanced in minerals, or vitamins, if you always eat the same thing. For example too much zinc, can cause low copper, too much calcium can unbalance magnesium.

If you eat different foods all the time, this is mitigated. Eat some nuts, eat some eggs, eat some fish, some poultry, some pork, some mutton, some fruit, some beef, some of this veggie, and that veggie.

This is the one wisdom in the CW diet - eat a varied diet. Its what grok would have done. If your struggling with eating the same thing all the time, this could be you - you need inspiration, hit google up, search PH, or ask a question on: "Please help me, I am growing to hate and fear eggs" ...or whatever...: varied, "balanced" as in constantly mix it up.

"3." There is such a thing as too much vitamins and minerals (especially minerals, and fat soluble vitamins). Vitamin or mineral overdose is more common in the general population (sad dieters) than deficiency.

There is especially no need for iron in a multi on paleo.

Equally iodine in salt, or in a multi is fairly redundant if your eating lots of fruit, meat and veg, specially if you do dairy (theres about 25-50mcgs in one egg yolk, 20mcgs per 100grams of carrot, about 26mcgs in 100 grams of chicken and similar in cheese and upwards of 100mcgs in 100grams of most sea food- you need ideally 150mcgs per day, unless your actively avoiding it on paleo, its pretty easy to reach, especially if you eat seafood a few days a week, or have a daily egg or so).

If your eating a nutritionally dense varied diet, taking lots of multi-vitamins could actually be harmful if you stack up too much of the fat soluble vits or the minerals.

Instead of popping pills, run a few meals through cronometer. If theres anything your missing consistantly, find a food that has it and eat some here and there. You might need a tiny bit more sodium and potassium if your low carb, and a little more water. But otherwise just use the RDAs as a guide.

If you do take a supplement, because your diet/lifestyle is always low in something (like vitamin D because you live in a cave underground), take that one nutrient, dont overdo it, be reasonable. Water soluble vitamins however, if you have too much, you just pee out (also amongst the easiest vitamins to get enough of - B's and C)

"4." Dont let any of the lectin, phylate etc talk scare you out of eating everything. Start with a broad paleo diet, and then try periods without certain groups of things if you like to see if it helps your health. Unless you have some serious health issue, and then by all means try strict, or immune protocol paleo. Theres alot of speculation. Might be good speculation, may be overreactive, look at it all case by case, it terms of how it affects you.

Many people will say start strict, then open up. Id advise the opposite. Its better not to narrow your food choices when your making massive dietary changes, otherwise youll probably get stuck in a rut, as above, and end up eating too little variety.

"5." If your confused, ask here. Thats what its for.

1 Do not fear cholesterol in your diet.

2 Avoid crap food, prosessed food, allergens, but don't sweat the small stuff. Trying to be perfectly paleo can often be counterproductive.

3 Don't fear salt.

4 Natural does't mean good.

5 Don't drink too much water.

• Fat is your friend
• Offal is your friend
• Boneless, skinless chicken breast and broccoli isn't paleo enough
• Beware the smoothies, nuts, cheese and wine if you are trying to lose weight
• Going low carb to trigger the fat-burning mode can be helpful especially if you are older. You don't have to stay there forever and you can still be low carb and enjoy sweet potatoes every day.

There is no common consensus on what is "paleo," so don't get hung up on the definition. Just pick up what helpful hints you can on this site and in the books. I see so many people bickering about what is and is not paleo. The important question is what is good for your health and the health of the planet.

1. Paleo is about genes - your ancestral genes that adapted to an ancestral lifestyle
2. learn about Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio and about potassium to sodium ratio
3. avoid anything processed and learn about refined carbs
4. aim to obtain vitamins and minerals from whole foods and healthy activity
5. adjust protein intake to meet your goals

Try and buy grass-fed, pastured meat. Yes, it's expensive, but totally worth it. You're supporting your local farmers, and eating meat that has been grown with care, love and slaughtered humanely. It tastes better too. Buy in bulk!

Don't let perfect get in the way of good. Try your best to eat as well as possible, but who cares if you eff up once in a while, or can't always afford the best quality everything.

Keep a food journal. Some people eat high fat, moderate protein, low carbs. Some people eat closer to a Zone/Paleo diet of 40% carb, 30% protein, 30% fat. You may not be like some people. Experiment with macronutrients and see what works best FOR YOU. Write down what makes you feel like ASS and what makes you feel like a superhero. Like Thor, because you know he eats bone marrow.

Research and find a very, very good naturopathic doctor. They are invaluable, ESPECIALLY if they are paleo friendly.

Eat nutrient dense foods: spinach, sweet potatoes, liver, cabbage. Rotate your veggies so you don't get sick of them.

This is not low carb. This is a low toxin way of eating. Sweet potatoes are AWESOME! So are parsnip fries. Look at my blog. Hint, hint.

Nuts are incredibly tasty, but incredibly addictive. If you're going to eat nuts, make them macadamias. They are extremely low in phytic acid (the nasty stuff that's in wheat and legumes, that blocks certain nutrients from being absorbed, and destroy your intestinal lining), and extremely low in omega 6 fatty acids. But they are not a meal replacement. Eat sparingly!

Don't overwhelm yourself. Keep things simple. Don't take a million supplements. If you have an existing health condition that hasn't gotten better with going paleo, GET THEE TO A DOCTOR. A holistic/integrative/naturopathic doc who is paleo friendly. From personal experience, self-diagnosing and spending $$$ on supps that don't work is absolutely MADDENING. The internet is NOT your friend in these cases!

Get good quality salt. "Real Salt" is awesome, and if you can find pink himalayan salt, go for it. Salt is your friend.

Eat fatty meat! Pork shoulder! Roast lamb! BEEF! And find yourself some well-sourced LARD! Or duck fat. You will thank me later.

If you don't like vegetables...tough. Roast 'em with said lard or duck fat, some salt and pepper, and THEN come talk to me if you still don't like 'em. Quit being a whiny bitch!

Pay attention to fermented foods. Not everyone's body likes 'em. They can produce a severe histamine reaction in some people. If you can't tolerate 'em, take a good quality probiotic instead.

This is my personal addition from recent experience: practice meditation. Pay attention to your breathing. It's an incredible way of learning to cope with all of life and everything it throws at you. Read up on Jon Kabat Zinn. Life is change, life is movement. The only constant is our breath.

DAMN. That's more than five. Whatever.

First of all - welcome! A newbie's fresh perspective is a valuable tool for us all.

I recommend watching David Getoff's Course "Attaining Optimal Health in the 21st Century." For the first time in 20 years he is offering the streaming videos online and it's just been released. It may be a lot of info, and it is 200-250 dollars, but if you have the drive and attention span (27 hours of material) do it. It's been one of the most worthwhile educational tools I've ever had my hands on when it comes to nutrition from this primal perspective. You will not find a better intro to the subject and it will serve you the rest of your life (obviously I'm a big fan).

Offered through the Price-Pottenger Foundation here: https://ppnf.org/education/streaming-video

Even if you don't do it now, this would be my #1 recommendation to do at some point in your life. Cheers! ~Zachary

To add to all the good things that everyone else has said, you also have to heal yourself from all of the damage that you have incurred from the agricultural and processed food diet that you have been on since before your grandparents were born.

Great advice on the meditation. It can help immensely with cravings/addictions.